APR 30 (SACRAMENTO, Calif.) – A federal grand jury returned two separate indictments today charging a total of six defendants with methamphetamine trafficking offenses.

In the first case, Jose Acosta, 34, Jorge Rios, 39, Jose Luis Aguilar, 49, Diego Velazquez, 29, and Feliciano Ochoa Reyes, 30, all Mexican nationals, were charged with conspiring to traffic methamphetamine and use of a communications facility (cellular telephone) in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. According to court documents, between September 10, 2014, and April 16, 2015, the defendants were engaged in conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine in and around the Sacramento area (Docket # 2:15-cr-092 JAM).

In the second case, Alex Velasquez Rangel, of Sacramento, was charged with distribution of methamphetamine between February 12, 2014, and April 22, 2014 (Docket # 2:15-cr-093 GEB).

Both cases were the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorney Christiaan Highsmith is prosecuting both cases.

All defendants have been detained pending trial. If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine on the conspiracy charge and four years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the use of a communications facility in a furtherance of a drug trafficking offense charge. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.